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garry stewart

Garry Stewart began his professional dance career at the age of 20. Following his work as a dancer in many notable Australian companies, including Australian Dance Theatre, he began his career as a freelance choreographer in 1990. For the next eight years he was based in Sydney, creating works for some of Australia’s most notable contemporary dance companies including Chunky Move and Sydney Dance Company, and presenting his independent works at venues such as The Performance Space (Sydney).

In 1998, Stewart established his own company, Thwack! He created two dance works: Plastic Space, which premiered at the Melbourne Festival and subsequently toured Australia, and the first stage development of Birdbrain, a deconstruction of Swan Lake.

Stewart was appointed Artistic Director of Australian Dance Theatre in late 1999. His first project for ADT, Housedance, was commissioned for the International Millennium Broadcast and performed on the outside of the main sail of the Sydney Opera House on New Year’s Eve 1999. Housedance was seen by an estimated global television audience of two billion.

Stewart’s first full-length work for ADT was Birdbrain which has been performed to audiences totalling ten of thousands across four continents over five years. His repertoire of main stage works for ADT exemplifies his distinctive choreographic style and has been the foundation upon which the company has been able to rapidly grow its national and international reputation. The Age of Unbeauty, Nothing, HELD, Devolution, G and Be Your Self are tremendously varied thematically and in terms of their dance vocabularies.

Garry Stewart’s growing influence on the international scene has led to invitations from prestigious international companies and dance festivals to create new works for them. Rambert Dance Company (UK), Bare Bones Dance Company (UK), the Birmingham Royal Ballet (UK), the Royal New Zealand Ballet (NZ) and Ballet de l’Opera National du Rhin have all requested Stewart as a guest choreographer. (Text courtesy of the artist and Australian Dance Theatre.)

www.adt.org.au

Works by garry stewart

interviews

garry stewart’s vision for the adt
anne thompson, realtime 40, december 2000-january 2001

the search for intelligence and charisma
wendy lasica, realtime 56, august-september, 2003

dance evolution in the age of robotics
erin brannigan, realtime 71, february-march, 2006

video interview: choreographer garry stewart, be your self
realtime tv online, june 2012

 

articles/reviews: other works by garry stewart

helmet, 1997
dance actual and virtual
eleanor brickhill, realtime 18, april-may, 1997

fugle, 1997
the history of our dancing bodies is becoming hot
eleanor brickhill, realtime 22, december 1997-january 1998

the red shift, 1998
dance as research
julia postle, realtime 23, february-march, 1998

birdbrain, 2001
swan lake with edge
anne thompson, realtime 44, august-september, 2001

nothing, 2003
artful device and the afterlife
helen omand, realtime 55, june-july, 2003

vocabulary (with restless dance theatre), 2005
the dance of words
helen omand, realtime 69, october-november, 2005

transcriptions, 2005
dancing into the language trap
kirsty darlaston, realtime 66, april-may, 2005

nascent, 2006
dance cinema, cinematic dance
karen pearlman, realtime 72, april-may, 2006

honour bound (with nigel jamieson), 2006
editorial
realtime, realtime 74, august-september, 2006

perspective on power and perception
keith gallasch, realtime 75, october-november, 2006

be your self, 2010
mind, body & the evolution of a dance work
garry stewart, realtime 94, december 2009-january 2010

dialectical entanglements
carl nilsson-polias, realtime 97, june-july, 2010

the body: beginning and end
keith gallasch: matthew day, intermission; adt, be your self
realtime 110, august-september 2012

multiverse
micro/macro dances of light & matter 
ben brooker, realtime 122, august-september, 2014

Thumbnail: Age of Unbeauty, photo Heidrun Löhr